Able Company after Iwo Jima

Courtesy of Shane Hickey.

Survivors of A Company after Iwo Jima. Shane's grandfather, Edward DuBeck is standing second from left in the top row, hands in pockets.

Others I can identify (I think) are:
Paul Scanlon, Al Perry and Allan Duncan (third row from left; Scanlon and Perry wearing helmets, Duncan with a cap)
Frank Gosiewski (in front of Duncan, face half hidden)
Dominick Piccolomini (lounging at left in the front row, with cigarette)
Tom Hurley (looking absolutely exhausted, second row, fourth from right)
Finally, The Skipper Himself, Buck Schechter (standing, eighth from right, bareheaded)

(The big Marine to Schechter's right looks like Jeff Jowers, who was serving with battalion headquarters during Iwo Jima - though that's where Schechter was posted as well, so he might have joined them for the photo. He'd been Schechter's driver since 1943, and possibly was still serving as such).

Edward DuBeck

Just received an email from a fellow who came across the main site while searching for his grandfather - a corporal in Able Company's machine gun platoon. He'll be sending in some information and letters from his grandfather, Edward DuBeck, who is apparently residing out in Pennsylvania. Very exciting, more to follow!

New Pictures From George

24th Marines, 1943 - 1944
The famous Red Book.

"Additional Personnel" page from the Red Book. Able Company members include: Sgt. Henry Fones (first row, far right), PFCs Winston Cabe, John Czepiel, Frederick Iverson, Carl Schott, Kenneth Whitehurst, Richard McGinnis, Privates Eugene Morris, William Olson, Raymond Van Dam.

The color bearers of the 24th Marines. Eugene Walsh from Able Company is carrying the regimental colors.

"Scotty" Spangler, one of Able Company's field musics, played the drums with the regimental band.

Tom Johnson and George Smith digging out a pit; Richard Grosch and Amedeo Izzo watch.

George picks out cactus spines after being startled by a rattlesnake while on ambush exercises.

Rubber boat training, Aliso Beach, California.


The Camp Pendleton swimming pool. At left is the tall diving tower that caused such trouble for Phil's platoon.
"To JJ. A swell Pal + a wonderful friend. Gunga."

Last Will and Testament, filled out by all Marines when going into combat.









Broadside handed out on the USS Calvert, en route to Saipan: "Let's all sing good and loud or you won't get any chow."

REST CAMP, LUALUALEI AMMUNITION DEPOT, OAHU. 1944-1945.

Bathing beach in Oahu, 1945. "Neal, Sobash, W. H. Smith, [George], Cameron."

The long pier at the rest camp.

Rest camp.

The barracks at Lualualei, 1945.

Half-mast for President Roosevelt. April 12, 1945.
"Waianae Gate. August, 1945. My home at Oahu."

OCTOBER 1951. BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA
With a friend who was later sent to active duty in Korea.

"Lady & I. March 1951. Barstow, Calif. - Nebo Gate." Sign in the back reads "Pistols will be unloaded outside by order CO."

The main gate at Barstow. George was co-commander of the MPs at this post. May, 1951.


A friend on MP detail. George recalled that this man went on to serve with a machine gun crew in Korea, and while retreating from the Chosin Reservoir, was hit by an enemy artillery shell. He was blown into a nearby drainage ditch, where the cold water and the pressure of lying on his wound saved him from bleeding to death. "A living miracle."

Platoon Sergeant Smith, 1951.

VETERANS

Howie Haff and George Smith.

"Ugly" Izzo, Vern Neeson, David Spohn, Hal Fritz, at a reunion.

June and Bill Quinn, Hal Fritz, "Scotty" Spangler, Pauline Fritz, Janet Spangler.

Veteran's Day Update

Today, of course, is November Eleventh; the anniversary of the end of World War One, supposedly the supreme end to all of war. Of course, that was not to be... and as the song says:

And I can't help but wonder, no Willie McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.

Hopefully everyone out there got a chance to visit with a veteran, or at least spared a thought for those who have sacrificed for our country - and another thought for those who are still out there fighting.

I was lucky enough to spend the last two days visiting with George Smith of Able Company. It's always a treat to spend time with him and his wife, Doris, but especially this year. Doris had a nasty stroke several months ago, and the road to recovery has been a very hard one. At one point, there was some doubt as to whether she would survive. However, "Kid" is back home and doing well. She needs a walker from time to time and has flashes of confusion, but is ready and willing to spar wits with George, which is no small feat. To see the two of them sniping at each other is to witness the kind of affectionate love that most people only hope to experience. They really do keep each other going, and it's a wonderful thing to experience even from the outside. When visiting, I really feel like I'm at the home of some far-flung grandparents.

We celebrated the 234th birthday of the Marine Corps with grilled steaks and a toast to the Corps and those who couldn't be with us. There is a floral arrangement standing in their living room; red poinsettias and gold gilded leaves, the colors of the Marines. Usually, George dedicates the flowers to an unknown Marine, but this year, he said, they were specifically for Moo Moo, in the hopes that somewhere he will know he isn't forgotten. I was even moved by grace said over the meal, which hasn't happened in some time.

Once again, I left with a heavy heart. I never get to spend enough time with George, and I always feel that we're just hitting our stride when it's time for me to leave. He sent me away with a few more treats: most of the remainder of his photo collection, about half of which are duplicates (but destined for the trash, most likely, if I hadn't taken them), a Bowie knife from the USMC Bicentennial (a MASSIVE piece of cutlery), and - most important to me - a towel he "appropriated" from his stay in Naval Hospital #10 at Aiea Heights, Oahu, after being evacuated from Saipan. "You're now an accomplice in the theft of Navy property!" he joked as I headed out the door.

Somehow, I don't think they'll mind, and if they do, they'll have to take it from me.

Have a safe and thoughtful November Eleventh. Pictures to follow in due course. And, as always, Semper Fidelis.

The News

So, this is pretty huge.... the Able Company website has been noticed by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, and deemed worthy of a link on their page!

Colonel Dick Camp, USMC (retired) contacted me this week with the idea of a link swap, which lit a fire under certain asses to get the website software working again. Their link has been added, and hopefully mine will go up on their site soon. Col. Camp even paid me the complement of mistaking me for a Marine - then, when I told him I was just a civilian, remarked "it sounds like you are a Marine at heart." This is high praise, indeed.

Also, he has offered to help out with any questions I might have... hope his inbox is prepared for a flood of inquiries. I WILL get to the bottom of the Arthur Ervin story.

We're back!

After a longer-than-planned hiatus, http://ablecompany24.com/MAIN.html is back up and running. I've been doing a lot of proofreading, and there's a lot more information to post... looks like I'll be staring at the computer screen for quite a while in the coming weeks.

In related news, the site has caught the attention of the USMC Heritage Foundation, who proposed a link-swap... so hopefully there'll be some more traffic coming in soon.

Good to be back... Semper Fi!

Phil Wood's Photos

BOOT & OFFICER TRAINING: Parris Island, Quantico OCS, 1942.
Private Phil Wood on the bayonet course, Parris Island. He is carrying the M1903 Springfield rifle.

Phil Wood, unidentified Marine, and Roy Wood outside their barracks at OCS, Quantico, VA. Probably taken in the summer of 1942, each still sports their single PFC stripe earned in boot camp.

After graduation from OCS, sporting the brand new lieutenant's bars.

ADVANCED TRAINING. Camp Pendleton, 1943.

Howie Haff after field exercises - the "30 miles in 6 1/2 hours" is a reference to a long march back from a field problem when Able Company, to the annoyance of its members, was the only company of First Battalion not to ride back to Pendleton in a truck.
















John Czepiel is treated by a corpsman for a common Pendleton ailment.

Captain Schechter's jeep.

Howie Haff and Howard Kerr take a break for some noon chow.

The officers of First Battalion on the set of the 1943 film Guadalcanal Diary.

Phil Wood's handwritten key for identifying the men pictured above.

"Your moustachio'd friend, Roy Wood, The Captain, Oz - his father just had a book published - "Say I Of Myself" - second or third printing now. But it's boring as the devil! And Smitty - David E. Smith. He wasn't in the company when you were out, Mother - from Missouri, literally. But a good guy."First Battalion officers aboard the USS DuPage, en route to Namur.

"The 24th's Agony Quartette - this is our picture for the press. Reading from left - right: The Legal Eagle, "Fire" Stott, Big Harry Reynolds and T.K. Johnson.
Also pictured is the biggest piece of open floor on the damn ship."

REST CAMP: Camp Maui, spring of 1944.

Lt. Phil Wood at Camp Maui, 1944.

The mortar section, Camp Maui, 1944.

3rd Row: Claude Henderson, Leo Ksiekievicz, JJ Franey, Tom Johnson, John Czepiel
2nd Row: Wilbur Plitt, Edward Hackett, Donald Peters, [unknown], Taxi Wanagaitis, [unknown], Ronald Bartels
1st Row: Howie Haff, Edward Lykins, Frank Gosiewski, Ronald Palmer, Joe Roff, Bill Imm

Lt. Wood (with white shirt) and his mortar section, 1944.

"The pictures with Harry are the conventional thing to do here, but it took a bit of persuading to get Harry to do it. For a quarter more it would show her kissing us, she said, but we said we didn’t have another quarter. You can even see the rosy glow on Harry’s face."

Official photo of the dedication of the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Saipan.

Grave on Saipan.

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.